BIA in the media

L'Esprit Sorcier, an educational medium, provides the keys to a better understanding of our world, and to forming an opinion on the major issues in science and society. Today's topic? ‘These scientists take their inspiration from nature to do away with oil - Science En Questions’.

Whether they work in biology, computer science, mathematics or other fields, researchers in the Loire are actively helping to broaden the horizons of research in the region. EchoScience met Claire Berton-Carabin, Research Director at INRAE Nantes for the past 3 years and co-leader of the BIA unit's Dispersed Systems Interfaces team.

By 2040, all single-use plastics will have to be replaced by bio-based materials. The bioeconomy aims to reuse available renewable resources, such as plant waste, to help protect the environment. A report on the bioeconomy broadcast on France 5's Silence ça pousse programme on 25 March highlighted the unit's work in the field of agricultural waste recovery.

The ‘discoveries’ of the ELIPS, PVPP and NANO teams, who are all working on adding value to plant biomass, were featured in a report broadcast on the TF1 8pm news on 24 March 2023.

Plastic has become an omnipresent part of our daily lives. As well as the macro-plastics that are so visible in our city streets, on our beaches and floating in our seas, what about microplastics? More pernicious because it's tiny and even invisible to the naked eye, it's everywhere: we eat it, drink it, breathe it. Where does it come from? Is it microplastic from the outset, or does it become so? Above all, what effect does it have on the health of ecosystems and on our own health? Among the five speakers, Marie-Hélène Ropers will present our exhibition, what happens to them in the body and their potential effects on health.

On 20 September 2022, a press conference on the development of materials and molecules derived from renewable biomass to replace their petroleum-based equivalents was held at the Géraudière site in Nantes. Organised and moderated by Monique Axelos, INRAE's Scientific Director for Food and the Bioeconomy, and Emmanuelle Chevassus-Lozza, President of the INRAE Pays de la Loire Centre, the event featured contributions from Johnny Beaugrand and Bénédicte Bakan of the BIA unit, as well as Jean-Guy Berrin (BBF) and Mechthild Donner (MOISA), who presented their work and latest results using concrete examples before a question and answer session with journalists.

Science influences Science Fiction, but the reverse is also possible! At the 22nd edition of the Utopiales festival, scientists and artists took an interest in the Limit(s), those who test frameworks, discover what lies beyond, cross thresholds....

Shellfish, mushrooms, plant fibres, food scraps... designers and manufacturers alike are exploring the ecological and technical potential of biosourced materials. A veritable laboratory for creativity and experimentation.

To find out whether flax fibre could be an alternative to plastic or fibreglass, researchers have assessed its durability by analysing the canvas of Italian Baroque paintings and Egyptian mortuary textiles.

Manon Chemin, a doctoral student in the unit, presents her film entitled ‘Architecture d'un gâteau aux légumes’ (‘Architecture of a vegetable cake’) as part of the CIFRE thesis carried out with the company NBread as part of the ISD team.